Birthday Season

Man, this is birthday season. Ben just had one. Mine was last Friday and it lasted 3 days. By Sunday I just wanted to crawl under a down blanket and watch old Charlie Chan movies. It wasn’t to be.

My skydiving buddy Colorful Tom, husband of famed KDHX DJ ‘Drea Stein, talked me into going down to our local bar “Friendly’s” so he could buy me a birthday drink. Walking into the bar I almost couldn’t believe my bloodshot eyes. It was a surprise party. I eventually rallied and the party got going. Valerie had been planning it for months and I don’t know how she had the energy to pull it off.

Tony Patti, Mark Gray, Sharon, Becky, Danny Stefacek, Steve Martin, Sardo, Tom and ‘Drea were the only locals. It seemed like everyone else came from a hundred miles away and it was cold that night. A lot of people that just lived blocks away never got their invites.

The beer garden was tented in with a wood burning stove. They went to a lot of trouble to decorate it but it was too damn cold and we took over the back room. Let’s see--- Marge and Phil, Dennis Connolly and Noel Bowman, Linda and Joe Suterer all came from Wine Country were we used to party with Rib Tip and Sue. I mentioned jumping into their frozen pond on New Year’s Day many years ago in a previous entry. That’s what’s pictured above. (I’m pretty sure I borrowed the swim suit from Rib Tip). Joe and Linda brought the pic.

It also just happened to be Dennis’ 67^th birthday.

Valerie’s family seems to have this running gag. They get me some article of clothing that says, “If at first you don’t succeed, Skydiving is not for you!”

Last night was Sharon’s birthday. Mark’s girl friend Trish had a grand opening for her new restaurant Sandrina’s. Dom and Vince’s band, Psychotronics, played. A lot of people I know were there and I think I probably offended every one of them in one way or another. (I get a little amped up when I drink whiskey). Those evenings are usually followed by a full day of apologetic phone calls. In fact this blog entry is a day late and a dollar short. I’m just about well enough to head down to Soulard’s dog parade.

Valerie and I were just in the Epiphany parade down there. We ran into Joanie, Tom and Meagan. I told Meagan I mentioned her 2 Harlequin Romance novels in my blog and she still seems embarrassed about it. I personally would love to have anything published.

It just occurred to me that I haven’t put anything historical in this entry so here goes: In the late 80’s I tended bar at the Soulard Preservation Hall during Mardi Gras. It was a great gig. I made a small fortune, got drunk and handed my cash drawer over without having to balance the books. It’s amazing how much love and trust there was back then. This was the same year local artist David Classe painted the wild naked man dancing on the roof of the Preservation hall. That was Chuck Auger. Chuck was speeding on meth and howling at the moon. The cops got him down and he used the police report for his promotion portfolio. He was very proud of it. He was also the best concert promoter I’ve ever played for. It was a calling he never really pursued.

Sharon says she has surprise party pics. I'll post them later.